Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

In December last year no-one was talking about the coronavirus, but what happened to unemployment? It fell to 5.1 per cent. What happened in the September quarter last year before the coronavirus? Household disposable income, off the back of our tax cuts, had its biggest increase in a decade. What happened to retail sales volumes in December last year before the coronavirus? They had their biggest jump since 2018.

The reality is that before the coronavirus, as the Reserve Bank governor had said, the economy had reached a gentle turning point and Australians could be confident about their economic future. Why? Because the current account surplus is occurring for the first time in more than 40 years, because we have the lowest welfare dependency in more than 30 years, because we've delivered the biggest tax cuts in more than 20 years and because the budget is back in balance for the first time in 11 years. Why is it that the member for Rankin and the Labor Party are always talking down the Australian economy? The reality is that investment is stronger, unemployment is lower, taxes are lower and there's more money in Australians' pockets as a result of this coalition government.

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